25,000 demonstrators and confrontations surrounding the establishment of a new AfD youth party

In the German city of Giessen, 25,000 to 30,000 demonstrators gathered on Saturday to protest against the establishment of the new youth wing of the radical right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Various German media report this based on an estimate from the German Ministry of the Interior. Despite the protest, the youth movement ‘Generation Deutschland’ was officially founded on Saturday afternoon, seven months after the dissolution of the former AfD youth party ‘Junge Alternative’.

Protesters have blocked roads in Giessen, a small town in the state of Hesse. Due to these blockages, the founding conference was delayed by two hours. The police turned out en masse and used water cannons. There have been clashes between demonstrators and police, resulting in injuries on both sides.

“You will see images from Giessen on TV tonight that are anything but pleasant,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a meeting of his party’s CDU branch in Saxony-Anhalt. Merz speaks of a “battle between the far left and the far right.” The state president of Hesse, Boris Rhein (CDU), also condemned the violence during the protests: “The use of violence […] can never be a democratic tool.”

Extreme right

The establishment of the new party follows the dissolution of the former AfD youth party ‘Junge Alternative’ (JA). The AfD decided to disband its own youth movement because it had been discredited several times. JA, like the AfD, was also classified as far-right by the German security service. The former youth wing was seen as more radical than the parent party.

The intended chairman of the new youth party, which will probably be called ‘Generation Deutschland’, is Jean-Pascal Hohm. Hohm is currently part of the AfD faction in the state of Brandenburg. He has also been called far-right by the German security services, which means he could be closely monitored.

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